Enewsletter

Enewsletter • August 22, 2007

Notes from Vegan
Outreach

Tribute & Profile:
Jenna Calabrese

Working
full-time for Vegan Outreach during
the last school year, Jenna Calabrese
handed out 43,981 booklets at 80
schools in the Fall, and 31,229
booklets at a record 111 schools
in Spring. In addition to personally
reaching over 70,000 students all
across the Northeast in every type
of weather, Jenna inspired many
other compassionate people to move
beyond just being veg, and to start
taking real action for animals.

After a summer where she reached
thousands more at concerts and other
venues, Jenna is starting a new
job in New York City. Given her
commitment to the animals and her
near-cult-level following, though,
we are sure to see much more of
her in the future!

How long have you been involved
in animal rights and how did you
get interested?

I went vegetarian when I was really
young, but it wasn't until high
school that I was given a copy of
Animal Liberation and realized
that there was more to activism
than just the choices I made at
each meal. I adopted a vegan diet
at age seventeen and from there
started getting active on behalf
of the animals. From my first animal
rights conference in 2003 to adopting
my college during my freshman year
to helping promote a documentary
film about an open rescue at a battery-cage
egg facility to working for Vegan
Outreach full-time, my interest
and dedication to animal activism
has only increased as the years
have gone on.

What was your most positive
leafleting experience this year
and why?

During the course of the 2006/2007
school year, I was so surprised
and pleased to discover how open
to and interested in this material
students really are. No one likes
to have their habits challenged,
especially when you're implying
that their habits have caused an
endless amount of suffering to other
beings. However, I found that a
majority of the high school and
college students who received a
brochure from me this year were
at least interested enough to flip
through the literature. Many, many
students thanked me for doing what
I did, and each time someone told
me that they had gone vegetarian
because of an Even If or
a Why Vegan, all of the
trials and tribulations of being
a full-time leafleter paled in comparison.

Adopt a College: You Can Get Involved!

With Jenna's "retirement"
from the Northeast, Vegan Outreach
needs more people to leaflet! Every
school needs to have us there, being
the animals' voice. But the Northeast
-- with its density of schools and
relative availability of vegetarian
products -- is a key leafleting
area.

The Adopt
a College website has lots of
information about the program, including
the Why
and How.
If you are interested in taking
your veganism to the next level
and creating real, fundamental change
in our society, please contact
us!

Another Way to Help: Housing Request

In the next few weeks, VO's Victor
Tsou and Jon Camp will begin their
college leafleting tours for the
Fall '07 semester.

Victor will need housing near the
following areas in the middle of
September: Salt Lake City, UT; Bozeman,
MT; Pocatello, Moscow, and Boise,
ID.

If you'd be willing to house either
of these courteous young men for
one to four nights, please email
info
(at) veganoutreach.org. Moreover,
Victor and Jon welcome any help
in leafleting and they're available
to give talks to your local college
or organization. One of them will
likely be in your part of the country
at some point this school year,
so please contact them to find out
when and if you'd like to get involved.

Thanks so much to everyone who
has helped out with tours in the
past. In their combined four years
of touring, Victor and Jon have
yet to spend one penny of VO's funds
on housing. This has allowed us
to continue expanding on our cost-effective
outreach, reaching more and more
individuals with the animals' plight
each year as a result of your generosity.

VO's Executive Director Matt Ball
is featured in "The
Vegan Crusade."
Excerpt: "The main point is
to try to have as much impact in
the world as possible, instead of
promoting one specific diet or one
specific philosophy," Ball
said.... Meanwhile, young people
have shown an increased interest
in animal rights.... Ball said the
young are often angry when they
realize that modern agribusiness
treats animals like commodities
to be produced at the cheapest cost.
"The animal industry in this
country--agribusiness in this country--is
built on a lie," he said. "It's
built on a lie that animals are
treated well, and there isn't this
overt cruelty."

Banners & Survey of the Week

New
and old Vegan Outreach web banners
are available here,
with a link to the html code for
each.

Want to vote for your favorite
product (author, organization, restaurant,
etc.)? You can do so at
VegNews' survey, and
perhaps learn of some new-to-you
products, etc.!